Welcome dear readers,
To the post – auction article for the 2023 IPL Auction!!!
It was held on 23rd December at Kochi, and I must say there was no shortage of excitement. As is the case in most auctions, the all rounders went for the highest prices, and Sam Curran broke all records by going to PBKS as the most expensive player in the history of IPL.
The owner of Punjab Kings, Ness Wadia, has reportedly told after the auction that letting go of Curran in 2020 ‘was a mistake’, and that the mistake was corrected this year. Well, at least he publicly accepts ONE of the million mistakes they’ve made in terms of releasing players and in the auction.
With some expected bidding wars, some unexpected ones, unknown domestic talent going for sky high prices, known international talent going for base price, some reversed bidding decisions, the auction was filled with fun, furor and drama.
Without further ado, let’s see how each team fared at the auction table.
1. Chennai Super Kings:
The ‘mixture’ was replaced by banana chips owing to the location, and the CSK table couldn’t wait to eat. Thankfully, they did so only after acquiring the most expensive auction buy for CSK in all time – Ben Stokes. The English test captain, who’s been a crucial part of England’s T20 setup, came to CSK at a price of 16.25 crores, and he’s expected to continue the legacy of CSK having a dependable fast bowling all-rounder, a role started by Albie Morkel and carried through all these years by Dwayne Bravo. Buying Rahane and Kyle Jamieson were masterstrokes.
With MSD being reunited with 2 of his former Rising Pune Supergiants teammates, and CSK having a plethora of all-rounders, the squad looks solid and dominating to give our Thalaivan a perfect send off from IPL.
Expected Playing XI:
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Ben Stokes, MS Dhoni (c&wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Mukesh Choudhary, Kyle Jamieson / Maheesh Theekshana
Welcome Big Ben
2. Mumbai Indians:
They again went big, but I must say they’ve found a good
replacement for their stalwart Kieron Pollard in Cameron Green. However, buying
him for a whopping 17.5 crores, especially when he’s yet to play even one
season of the IPL, seems like a big move, and one can only hope that for MI’s
own good, it pays off. They managed to obtain the services of Piyush Chawla, a
good addition to their otherwise inexperienced spin attack. With a good squad
now setup, MI would wanna correct their mistakes from the last 2 seasons.
Expected Playing XI:
Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis, Tim David, Cameron Green, Piyush Chawla, Hrithik Shokeen, Jasprit Bumrah, Jofra Archer.
3. Royal Challengers Bangalore:
One phrase can describe their auction – uncharacteristically
silent. Owing to their small purse and the relatively large bidding wars going
on, RCB could only spectate as big stars were sold to other teams in front of
their eyes. Not that they lack star power though. It’s a testimony to the
balance of their side that the only buys they made were a few domestic talents
and English pacer Reece Topley, perhaps a backup to Hazlewood. They’re all
settled, and being the only team to have qualified to the playoffs for the last
3 seasons, they would wanna make sure they get their hands on the ever-elusive
cup at least this time.
Expected Playing XI:
Faf du Plessis(c), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Suyash Prabhudessai, Dinesh Karthik(wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood.
4. Kolkata Knight Riders:
As expected, not a single significant buy apart from getting
Jagadeesan. At least they managed that; they were in desperate need of an
Indian wicketkeeper. Poor Shakib al Hasan had no takers apart from his ex-team,
which is probably releasing him and buying him back for the nth time. Though
they’ll be able to put together a playing XI, it’ll be a batting order that’s
over dependent on its all-rounders, and that’s never a good sign.
Expected Playing XI:
N Jagadeesan(wk), Venkatesh Iyer,
Shreyas Iyer(c), Nitish Rana, Shakib al Hasan / Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Andre
Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson / Tim Southee, Umesh
Yadav, CV Varun.
5. Delhi Capitals:
To the surprise and relief of other teams, deadly paddle-raiser uncle chose to be a little quiet this auction. The story would’ve been very different if DC had come into the party for any of the all-rounders near the higher ends of their prices.
They cleverly acquired the services of
Rilee Roussow and Manish Pandey to strengthen their middle order, and got
Indian pacers Ishant Sharma & domestic sensation Mukesh Kumar. Their
line-up is very strong, and I’ll be surprised if they don’t make it to the
playoffs with such a good squad.
Expected Playing XI:
David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh / Rilee Roussow, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (c&wk), Rovmann Powell, Axar Patel, Anrich Nortje, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed / Chetan Sakariya, Ishant Sharma / Kamalesh Nagarkoti.
6. Rajasthan Royals:
They did their best in the auction, and were even prepared to empty their entire purse for certain players, only to withdraw from bidding once the price went above it. The addition of Jason Holder is a definite boost, and they gained even more respect from me by taking Joe Root into their squad at the last moment; the man deserves a chance in the toughest T20 league.
Yet,
despite their excellent buys, their playing XI may be composed of their
existing squad with the exception of Holder, and that’s how well their squad is
right now.
Expected Playing XI:
Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson(c&wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Jason Holder, R Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal.
7. Sunrisers Hyderabad:
Being active from the beginning owing to their hefty kitty, I must admit they did quite well. They went all out for Harry Brooks and managed to get Mayank Agarwal. Coach Muttaiah Muralidaran will be happy at the spinners whom they managed to buy.
The biggest question that exists even now is: who’s gonna lead them?
I’ve given my suggestion below.
Expected Playing XI:
Mayank Agarwal, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Harry Brooks, Glenn Phillips(wk), Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar(c), Adil Rashid, T Natarajan, Umran Malik.
8. Punjab Kings:
Barring the purchase of Sam
Curran, PBKS haven’t made any great impact on their squad during the auction,
and that’s not what was expected out of them going into the auction. They’ll have
to insert Sam into their playing XI of last year, and hope that Dhawan can do a
better job of marshalling them.
Expected Playing XI:
Shikhar Dhawan(c), Jonny Bairstow(wk), Jitesh Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh, Liam Livingstone, Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh.
Go well, Chutti Singam
9. Lucknow Supergiants:
They made good backup-buys like Jayadev Unadkat, Daniel Sams and Amit Mishra, but I seriously don’t know under what belief they dished out 16 crores on Nicolas Pooran, who’s famous for scoring 3 consecutive ducks in last year’s IPL. As they say, the heart wants what it wants, no matter how illogical.
That said, their squad is
pretty strong going from last year’s performance.
Expected Playing XI:
KL Rahul(c), Quinton de Kock(wk), Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Nicolas Pooran, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mark Wood / Daniel Sams, Jayadev Unadkat / Mohsin Khan.
10. Gujarat Titans:
The defending champions made a rare feat during the auction. They bid only 7 times in total, and they ended up getting the players they bid for in all the 7 instances. That’s a 100% success rate at bidding!!!
They managed to get Kane Williamson at his base price, and he’s sure to be a priceless addition to the team. Captain Hardik considers MSD as his mentor, and he’ll definitely be able to pick on Kane’s brain, whose captaincy is said to be along the lines of the Indian legend. Getting young Indians like KS Bharat and Shivam Mavi are also valuable additions to the squad.
Expected Playing XI:
Matthew Wade(wk), Shubman Gill, Kane Williamson, Abhinav Manohar / Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya(c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Shivam Mavi, Sai Kishore / Yash Dayal.
So, this is how the teams performed at the auction. Another surprising thing that happened at the auction was that in 2 occasions, a bid was recognized after the hammer went down, and hence bidding continued even after the auctioneer had declared the player as ‘sold’. It caused quite an uproar on social media circles. But come on, what’s an auction for IPL without some element of dramatism in it!
The teams are set. Squads prepared. Minds ready. The franchises will have to wait for a 3-month period into the New Year of 2023, before the sporting action begins on the cricket field. The IPL is said to start in the last week of March or in the first week of April, though no official confirmation has been given yet.
Let’s all rest until then. As for the next sports post, I may come up with random interesting IPL posts, perhaps once a month, before the 2023 edition begins. Until then, I await the next article to form in my mind as much as you await for it to be posted!
See y’all soon!!
With cheers and whistles
Subrahmanyam
Sports Blogger